Charity field report from Asiakwa, Ghana

"Now I can be active again"

Mohamed is 40 years old. He is married and father of four children. He suffers from a chronic illness which has paralysed him for a very long time. He couldn't walk and work. He became completely inactive so that he was unable to support his family. His wife had to fight alone as best as she could to support the entire family, as well as her father-in-law who lives with them. They spent very difficult moments till 2005, when they became part of the family strengthening programme. Thanks to the programme's activities, the family was able to find its balance, its dignity and also its unity again.

"The illness started 15 years ago when Mohamed went to swim in a river. From there, he developed a sort of traumatism and after some time, the two legs started to swell. It formed boils, it opened up and sanious discharges continued to come up. It was very offensive with the discharges so people couldn't stay with him. He had a corn mill machine that was quite profitable at that time but because of his condition, he couldn't stay with his machine because people never brought their food to him", said Mohamed's father, Mr Seydou.

"During the time it started, the legs were so swollen and they were paining me a lot. It was too hard for me as I couldn't walk. The living also became very difficult because I was unable to work. In addition to that, the machine has broken down. It was so difficult until the time the family strengthening programme intervened in our condition", Mohamed said.

Children and families supported in Asiakwa, Ghana

"When we saw Mohamed's condition, we knew he was a good candidate for the programme. At once he became part of the family strengthening programme, we referred him to an orthopaedist in Koforidua, about 62 km from Asiakwa, where he was taken care of properly. We bought his medicine so to make his life more comfortable. He still goes there every two weeks for a review. We started to give him monthly food packages and items like beans, rice, sugar, oil, soap and we also repaired his machine so that he could restart his business and earn some money. We encourage him to save a part of the money he receives. At the moment, he has an account with a little money on it", said the family strengthening programme's coordinator, Anthony Owusu-Gyamfi.

Mohamed is happy today because his life has turned around: "One of my wounds is healed. The pain has decreased and I can walk and work normally again. With the continual support of the family strengthening programme I believe sooner or later I will be free of my condition", he said, while moving towards his newly repaired corn mill machine. Among his children, only two are still going to school because of lack of money and school stationeries. The programme did everything so that all the children can go to school again. "We bought books, bags, uniforms and all that is necessary for their schooling. Today, the four children go to school normally like all the other children of their age", the programme's coordinator said. As far as Mohamed's wife is concerned, "we are trying to come up with a generative income project to even better support the family, probably this year", the programme's coordinator added.

"SOS Children has really helped us. If they had not intervened my son would still lie in bed and cry because of a lot of pain and his condition would have deteriorated. When the family strengthening programme came, everything has changed and all the pain and cry stopped. So, I am very grateful of SOS Children and what they are doing for my son and his whole family" Mohamed's father said.

For privacy reasons, we have changed the names of the persons involved in the text.

SOS Children has been working in Ghana since 1971 and cares for over 200 children at Tema and Asiakwa at unique children's villages giving children a family for life. The SOS Family Strenghtening Programme at Asiakwa provides practical support to more than 500 children and their families in the local community.

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